Betty Bell This is Me

Education

 Web References

1. 1. marionstar.com - www.marionstar.com

   www.marionstar.com/apps/pbcs.d - [Cached]

   Published on: 2/10/2005   Last Visited: 5/29/2006

   MARION - Betty Bell, a volunteer at the Marion Union Station and for MAVRIC (Marion Area Volunteer and Information Center), which is also housed at the train station, said a temporary agreement to help out has turned out to be more than 10 years.
   
   She answers the phone and guides groups on tours, shares the history of Marion Union Station and points out the numerous restoration projects in the station.
   
   She is especially proud of the recently restored skylight and likes to point that out to visitors first.
   
   Bell usually only "works" on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but often is available for special tours on other days to help share the wonder and history of the restored station.
   
   "We have a lot of people who bring chairs, a sack lunch and just sit out along the tracks and watch trains," she said.
   
   Sharing the history of the station is one of Bell's favorite times. Many of the children, she noted, had no clue what the inside of a train station should look like except what they may have seen on television.
   
   "'Neato,' they say when they first come in," she said. "They're more interested in the trains in the model railroad room. They think the skylight is great and ask lots of questions. I have a few pieces of the dirty black glass that was a part of the original and show that to them, explain how we cleaned all those pieces of glass one by one and then had a man come in and put it all back together and fit the pieces perfectly."
   
   Bell said another favorite destination of kids is the tower.
   
   "They really like it now because all the whistles are fixed," she said and smiled.
   
   Since the end of April, she has had fourth grade students from Elgin South, Elgin West and Marion City schools come through for tours.
   
   "History was one of my favorite subjects in school," she said.
   ...
   Born in Wyandot County, Bell said her family moved to Waldo when she was a junior in high school after her father was promoted to district service man for Ohio Power. She is a 1948 graduate of Waldo High School.
   
   Bell worked in the credit and collection department at Ohio Edison for 22 years, retiring in 1987.
   
   She and her husband, Paul, took a trip by Amtrak across the country to celebrate their 50th anniversary six years ago.
   
   "It was gorgeous," she said.